Payments for ecosystem services and agricultural intensification: Evidence from a choice experiment on deforestation in Zambia

    Vorlaufer, T and Falk, T and Dufhues, T and Kirk, M (2017) Payments for ecosystem services and agricultural intensification: Evidence from a choice experiment on deforestation in Zambia. Ecological Economics, 141. pp. 95-105. ISSN 09218009

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    Abstract

    Agriculture is considered to be one of the major drivers of deforestation worldwide. In developing countries in particular this process is driven by small-scale agriculture. At the same time, many African governments aim to increase agricultural productivity. Empirical evidence suggests, however, that win-win relationships between agricultural intensification and forest conservation are the exception. Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) could be linked to agriculture support programmes to simultaneously achieve both goals. Due to potentially higher profits from intensified agriculture than from pure cash transfers, potential payment recipients may prefer in-kind over conventional cash payments. Nevertheless, little scientific evidence exists regarding the preferences of potential PES recipients for such instruments. We report from a discrete choice experiment in Zambia that elicited preferences of smallholder farmers for PES contracts. Our results suggest that potential PES recipients in Zambia value in-kind agricultural inputs more highly than cash payments (even when the monetary value of the inputs is lower than the cash payment), highlighting that PES could potentially succeed in conserving forests and intensifying smallholder agriculture. Respondents who intended to clear forest within the next three years were found to require higher payments, but could be motivated to enrol in appropriately designed PES.

    Item Type: Article
    Divisions: Research Program : Innovation Systems for the Drylands (ISD)
    CRP: UNSPECIFIED
    Uncontrolled Keywords: Choice experiment; Deforestation; Payments for Ecosystem Services; PES; Agricultural intensification; Zambia
    Subjects: Others > Zambia
    Others > African Agriculture
    Others > Agricultural Economics
    Depositing User: Mr Ramesh K
    Date Deposited: 29 Jun 2017 10:34
    Last Modified: 29 Jun 2017 10:34
    URI: http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/10067
    Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.05.024
    Projects: UNSPECIFIED
    Funders: Southern African Science Service Center for Climate Change and Adaptive Land-Use Management (SASSCAL), German Federal Ministry for Education and Research
    Acknowledgement: This work was funded by the Southern African Science Service Center for Climate Change and Adaptive Land-UseManagement (SASSCAL) through the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research [grant number 01LG1201B].Special thanks go to all assistants who contributed to the study and provided invaluable support during data collection, and to all participating communities for their hospitality.We appreciate the valuable feedback of Evelyn Korn and Björn Vollan as well as Mauricio Sarria's response to an econometric challenge we faced. We want to thank two anonymous reviewers and the editor for valuable feedback for the improvement of the manuscript. All the remaining errors remain ours.
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